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To woo a cockatoo, make sure the beat is right

Today on the show, All Things Considered co-host Mary Louise Kelly joins Regina G. Barber and Maria Godoy for our bi-weekly science roundup. They talk through some of the latest eye-catching science news, including the percussion-intensive mating life of cockatoos, what pink diamonds today tell us about the breakup of the ancient supercontinent Nuna and the latest on the Nipah outbreak in India.

To woo a cockatoo, make sure the beat is right

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Bulbul Aktar, a shasthya kormi, or community health worker, with the malaria elimination program in Bangladesh, goes door to door to treat malaria patients. "This is my job, my duty," says Aktar. "Every single home, I have to know about them and visit them." Fatima Tuj Johora for NPR hide caption

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Fatima Tuj Johora for NPR

Malaria is on the ropes in Bangladesh. But the parasite is punching back

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Smoky haze from wildfires in Canada obscures New York City's Empire State Building this year. The air in the U.S. has improved over the past 50 years, but smoke pollution from growing wildfires erodes much of that progress. David Dee Delgado/Getty Images hide caption

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David Dee Delgado/Getty Images

A diver in the Revillagigedo Archipelago interacts with giant mantas as part of a citizen science cruise led by Dr. Alfredo Giron. Alfredo Giron hide caption

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Alfredo Giron

A study of nearly 300,000 people in the U.K. found that people who maintained at least five of seven healthy habits cut their risk of depression by 57%. Maria Stavreva/Getty Images hide caption

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We've heard we need more fiber in our diets. Here are 8 easy tips for getting there

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Since its launch, the James Webb Space Telescope has sent back detailed images and spectra of galaxies from when the universe was just 900 million years old. NASA, ESA, CSA, Simon Lilly (ETH Zurich), Daichi Kashino (Nagoya University), Jorryt Matthee (ETH Zurich), Christina Eilers (MIT), Rongmon Bordoloi (NCSU), Ruari Mackenzie (ETH Zurich) hide caption

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NASA, ESA, CSA, Simon Lilly (ETH Zurich), Daichi Kashino (Nagoya University), Jorryt Matthee (ETH Zurich), Christina Eilers (MIT), Rongmon Bordoloi (NCSU), Ruari Mackenzie (ETH Zurich)

Saucer-like lenticular clouds appear over Turkiye's Bursa province in the early morning hours of January 19, 2023. Anadolu Agency/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images hide caption

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Anadolu Agency/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

New NASA report lays out roadmap for studying UFOs

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Experts say the new COVID boosters are a much closer match to currently circulating variants than prior vaccines and boosters. Frederick J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Frederick J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images

The new COVID boosters are coming: Here's what you need to know

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The cover of Ben Goldfarb's latest book, Crossings: How Road Ecology Is Shaping The Future of Our Planet Courtesy of W.W. Norton and Co. hide caption

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Courtesy of W.W. Norton and Co.

From "massive squishings" to the insect apocalypse, roads are terrorizing nature

40 million miles of road unite us. They also cause mass destruction for many species. Today, environmental journalist Ben Goldfarb and host Aaron Scott go on a tour of that destruction — the subject of Ben's new book Crossings: How Road Ecology Is Shaping the Future of Our Planet. But don't worry, it's not all grim! Along the way, we learn why fewer insects are hitting our windshields, talk about the breakthrough that is highway overpasses, and how at least one bird has adapted to avoid 18-wheel semi-trucks.

From "massive squishings" to the insect apocalypse, roads are terrorizing nature

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A person receives a COVID-19 vaccination dose, during a free distribution of COVID-19 rapid test kits for those who received vaccination shots or booster shots, at Union Station on January 7, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. Mario Tama/Getty Images hide caption

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Mario Tama/Getty Images

New Shots and a New Era for COVID

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Gerhardt Boukes, chief scientist at Afrigen Biologics and Vaccines, formulates mRNA for use in a vaccine against COVID-19. The company — based in Cape Town, South Africa — is the linchpin of a global project to enable low- and middle-income countries to make mRNA vaccines against all manner of diseases. Tommy Trenchard for NPR hide caption

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Tommy Trenchard for NPR

A feral cat hides in a wooded area near a beach parking lot at Jones Beach State Park in Wantagh, N.Y. The American Bird Conservancy sued the state parks department in 2016 to have the cats removed because they were a threat to the endangered piping plover and the cat colony was relocated to cat sanctuaries. Frank Eltman/AP hide caption

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Frank Eltman/AP

For more than decade, members of the Chumash tribe have led a campaign to create a new marine sanctuary on the central California coast. It could include waters off Point Conception, a sacred site for the Chumash people. Robert Schwemmer/NOAA hide caption

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Robert Schwemmer/NOAA

Researchers looking for root causes of long COVID work in the autopsy suite inside the Clinical Center at the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. Valerie Plesch/Bloomberg via Getty Images hide caption

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Valerie Plesch/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Some of the celebrity couples who have announced their splits in recent months include (L-R): Billy Porter and Adam Smith, Britney Spears and Sam Asghari and Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner. Rich Fury/Kevin Winter/Amy Sussman/Getty Images hide caption

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Rich Fury/Kevin Winter/Amy Sussman/Getty Images

Kame Ogito, 89, gathers seaweed at low tide in Motobu, Okinawa, Japan. Seaweed is part of the plant-based, low-calorie diet that makes Okinawans some of the longest-lived people in the world. David McLain/Dan Buettner hide caption

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David McLain/Dan Buettner

7 habits to live a healthier life, inspired by the world's longest-lived communities

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This image shows the painting "Ophelia," by John Everett Millais (1829-1896). Experts say that there's a reason that we're attracted to art and music that depict sadness. De Agostini via Getty Images hide caption

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De Agostini via Getty Images

Why beautiful sadness — in music, in art — evokes a special pleasure

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